Feeding mechanism.



J. PARKER.

vFi-:EDING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 24.1915. Lgp. Patented Feb. 2o, 1919.

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J PARKER FEEDING MECHANISM.

APPLICAHON FILED JULY 24.1915.

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TOI-IN PARKER, OF CRANSTON, RHODE ISLAD, ASSIGNOR TO BROWN SHARPE MANU-FC'TURING COMPANY, OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND, A CORPORATION OF RHODEIsraelita.l

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, JOHN PARKER, of the city of Cranston and county ofProvidence and State of Rhode Island, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Feeding Mechanism; and I do hereby declare thefollowing specification, taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, forming a part of the same, to lbe a full, clear, and exactdescription thereof.

The present invention relates to mechanism for effecting the feed of acarriage, table, or othei` member of a machine. In the accompanyingdrawings the invention is shown as applied to a milling machine forfeeding the work-carrying table, but the invention is equally applica lefor use in other machines where it is desired to feed a part of themachine, and particularly Where the part of the machine to be moved isof great size and weight.

Heretofore in milling machines it has been customary to employ atable-feeding mechanism embodying a shaft arranged parallel with thefeed-screw, said shaft and feedscrew Ibeing connected by gears locatedat the outer ends thereof. lVith this construction the connectionbetween said shaft and feed-screw in the large size machines is at aconsiderable distance from the bevel-gears which drive said shaft, andthe result is that a great amount of torsion is set up inthe shaft,which is objectionable for obvious reasons.

It is the primary object of the present invention to obviate thisobjectionable feature by providing a connection between the shaft andfeed-screw which is located adjacent and in close proximity to thebevel-gears which drive said shaft, thereby producing a stronger andmore efficient feeding mechanism.

To this end the invention consists in the novel construction,combination and arrangement of arts hereinafter described and moreparticularly set forth in the claims. In describing the invention indetail reference will be made to the accompanying drawings, in which`Figure 1 is a longitudinal vertical section through the work-table of amilling machine; Fig. 2 is an enlarged longitudinal horlzontal sectionthrough a portion of the work-table just above the feed-screws;

Specification of Letters Patent.

ber 22 formed thereon.

FEEIJIN'GrL MECHAN ISM.

Patented rieb. 25, wie.

Application led July 24, 1915. Serial No. 41,649.

Fig. 3 is'an enlarged transverse vertical section through the centralport-ion of the .work-table.

Fig. 4 is a broken detail view.

Referring to the drawings, 1' represents a portion of the knee of amilling machine, 2 the clamp-bed, 3 the saddle and 4 the swivelwork-table, all of the usual construction and arrangement.

The shaft 5 which is usually driven from the spindle of the millingmachine and from which the power is taken for the cross-feed of thesaddle and for the feed of the worktable is provided at its end with abevel-gear 6, which meshes with the bevel-gear 7 upon the short shaft 8mounted in the bed-plate.

The shaft 8 carries at its opposite end another bevel-gear 9 whichmeshes with two bevel-gears 10 and 10, loosely mounted upon a drivingshaft 11. A shifting clutch 12 is mounted upon the shaft 11 between thebevel-gears 10, 10 and connected toy said shaft by a spline-and-grooveconnection, so as to revolve with the shaft, but so as to be capable ofsliding thereon. The clutch 12 is arranged to be operated by aclutch-shoe 13 which lis adapted to be engaged by one end of arock-shaft 14. The other end of said rock-shaft is Vprovided with ahandlever 15 and with a pinion 1G which is engaged by a rack uponplungers 17, which are arranged to be operated by-dogs 18, all as shownin Fig. 3. The parts thus far described are of the usual construction.

The shaft 11 is journaled in lugs 19 upon the bottom of the work-tableand is provided at its fbrward end with a ball-crank 420.

Keyed upon the shaft 11 adjacent the bevelgear 10 is a sleeve 21 havinga clutch-mem- Loosely mounted upon the sleeve 21 is a gear 23 having aclutch-member 24 formed thereonand arranged to engage and disengageclutch-member 22. The gear 23 meshes with a gear 25 formed upon theexterior of a rotatable feed-nut 26, which is mounted to revolve uponthe stationary feed-screw 27. The feed-nut 26 is provided with anexternal shoulder 28, the ends of which are arranged to engage the endsof the bearings 29 and 30 .and prevent longitudinal movement of saidfeed-nut. The feed-screw 27 is rigidly secured in the lugs 19, as shownin Fig. 4.

movedinto and out of engagement with the into engagement with one of thebevel-gears 10 or 10', depending upon whether a forward or reverse feedof the table is desired. With the parts in this position, it will beseen that the shaft 11 will rotate the gear 23 which will in turn rotatethe feed-nut 26 upon the stationary feed-screw 27 and cause thework-table 4 to be fed.

When it is desired to utilize the shaft 11 to drive the spiral head orsome other portion of the machine while the Work-table remainsstationary, the clutch-members 22 and 24 are disconnected by the slidingbar 31 and its operating mechanism. The shaft 11 will then drivel thespiral-head 34 through the train of gears 35 and there will be no feedto the work-table.

. With the above construction, it will be seen that a table-feedingmechanism is produced which notonly embodies thel advantages of thefeed-screw and parallel shaft construction, but also the advantage ofhaving the connection between said feed-screw and shaft located withinthe saddle and in close proximity to the connection between said shaftand its driving mechanism, thereby eliminating the torsional strain uponboth the shaft and the feed-screw.

It will be seen that said novel construcy tion provides a very powerfuland efficient feeding mechanism for use in machines of large size whichemploy a very large and heavy work-table and operate upon ver large andheavy pieces of work. It will be understood that I do not intend tolimit myself to the exact constructionand arrangement of details shownand described and that various changes may be made in said detailswithout departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as definedby the appended claims.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:l

l. In a machine of the character described, the combination, with the'work-table, of a feed-screw, a shaft arranged parallel with saidfeed-screw, center driving mechanism for 'said shaft, means forconnecting saidV driving mechanism with said shaft and,v

means located in close proximity to said mechanism for connecting saidshaft and feed-screw.

2. In a maclnne of the character described,

nism for said shaft and means located in y said saddle for connecting`vsaid shaft and feed-screw. 4. In a machine of the character described,the combination with a swivel work-table of a feed-screw, a rotatableshaft arranged parallel with said feed-screw, center driving mechanismfor said shaft, a rotatable nut mounted upon said feed-,screw and meansfor rotating said nut.

5. In a machine of the character described, the combination with thework-table, of a.

spiral-head, a feed-screw mounted in said work-table, a feed-nut mountedto rotate upon said feed-screw, `a shaft mounted in said Work-tableparallel with said feedscrew, means connecting said shaft with saidspiral-head, means for driving said shaft, and means for rotating saidfeed-nut.

6. In a machine of the character described, the combination with thework-table, of a feed-screw and a rotatable shaft mounted in saidwork-table, means connecting said shaft and feed-screw, center drivingmechanism for said shaft, and means for moving said connecting means,into operative or inoperative positions.

'7. In a machine ofthe character described, the combination with thework-table, of a spiral-head, a feed-screw and a rotatable shaft mountedin said work-table, means connecting said shaft and spiral-head, meansconnecting said shaft and feed-screw, means for driving said shaft, andmeans for operating said spiral-lieadwithout operating the meansconnecting said shaft and feedscrew.

8. In a machine of thecharacter described, the combination with thework-table and saddle, of a feed-screw and a rotatable shaft mounted insaid Work-table and passing through bearings in said saddle, a feed-nutrotatably mounted `upon said feed-screw and provided with an externalshoulder adapted to engage the ends of two of* said bearings, anexternal gear formed upon said-shoulder, a sliding gear upon said shaftarranged to mesh with the gear upon said feed-nut, means for'moving saidsliding gear into'position to operate said feed-nut and out of saidposition, and means for driving said shaft.

10. In a machine of the character described, the combination with thework-table and saddle, of a feed-screw and a rotatable shaft mounted insaid work-table, a feed-nut sliding rotatably mounted upon saidfeed-screw, a gear upon the exterior of said feed-nut, a ear mountedupon said shaft and arrange to mesh Awith the gear.l upbn the feed-nut,a clutch-member upon said sliding gear, a second clutchvgmember keyedupon said shaft, and center driving mechanism for said shaft. l

' 11.iln a machine of the character described the combination with thework-table and saddle, of a feed-screw and a rotatable parallel shaftAmounted in said work-table and passing -through bearings in said saddle,a feed-nut rotatably mounted upon said feedscrew and provided with 'anexternal annular shoulder arranged between two of said bearings, anexternal gear formedupon said shoulder, a sleeve keyed upon said vshaftand provided with a clutch-member, a sliding gear loosely mounted uponsaid sleeve and in meshv with the gear upon the feed-- nut, aclutch-member upon said sliding '.gear, means for moving said'slidinggear to engage and disengage said clutch-member, and vmeans for drivingsaid shaft.

12. In a machine of the character describedl the combination with theWork-table and sa dle, of a feed-screw and a rotatable parallelv shaftmounted in said work-table and passing through bearings in said saddle,

va feed-nut rotatably mounted upon said feed-screw and provided with an-external annular shouldemarranged between two of said bearings; anexternal gear formed upon said shoulder, a sleeve keyed upon said shaft.

sliding-gear, sliding-bar provided at one end wit a yoke straddling saidsliding gear and at the other end with a rack, a rockshaft provided witha pinion arranged to engage said rack, and means for driving therotatable shaft.

- `Joruv PARKER.'

Witnesses:

W. H. THURs'roN,` f J. H. .T HuizsroN.

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